Let’s get extreme.

Rich Swann and Sasha Banks vs. Noam Dar and Alicia Fox on the kick-off show

Joey:

Sasha Banks being involved in a cruiserweight feud is a good idea for the division. Hopefully it leads to more interaction between the normal wrestlers and the cruiserweights instead of pretending they are in different worlds. Noam Dar is probably my least favorite cruiserweight (sorry not sorry) but there’s a lot charm in the act here with Alicia Fox. The match will probably be one of the more entertaining ones on the show.

Interest Level: 6/10Prediction: Sasha Banks and Rich Swann win.

Tim:

I am still incredibly bored by everything on Raw. There are a couple of things on Smackdown that really grab me. NXT is a super enjoyable show to me right now. Raw? It’s not what I am looking for at this juncture. Anyway, while I was trying to come up with what to say I did this.

Interest Level: 1/10Prediction: Banks and Swann win.

Tom:

I for one am absolutely delighted to see Alicia Fox make her startling return to a PPV, even if it is on the preshow. She had a rough couple of years on Total Divas, given that she was chiefly featured as either Paige or Rosa Mendes’ friend, but now she’s “the richest prize on 205 Live” and she’s back on top.

I enjoy her and Noam Dar as an odd couple and the idea of seeing Sasha Banks in a mixed tag match with Rich Swann as her partner is such a weird shift from everything else she’s done on the main roster that I’m fairly into this. I’ll take weird over boring any day of the week!

Interest Level: 7/10Prediction: Rich Swann and Sasha Banks win.

Orin:

To be honest, this is my most anticipated match of the evening. Alicia Fox and Noam Dar are a charmingly kooky pairing and Sasha genuinely looks like she’s been having a great time doing little dances with Rich Swann. Alicia is wonderful no matter what she does and, in my opinion, Noam has done an excellent job playing the weasely little greaseball. He doesn’t get a ton of credit for it, but he’s really put 110% into this silly, never-ending storyline. He’s great with jokey facial expressions and seems naturally gifted at looking like a horned up rat. I love it.

I love King Neville but this feud has to end as soon as possible. They have done good work together long enough. There just comes a time where you have enough of it. I can see this match going either way but I badly hope Neville wins.

WHY IS THIS STILL GOING ON? They’ve thrown in TJP for whatever reason and it just will not stop. I enjoy these two when they wrestle each other but I GET IT. PLEASE LET IT END.

Interest Level: 4/10Prediction: Austin Aries wins.

Tom:

It doesn’t get more extreme than a submission match! Somewhat boring stip aside, Neville is still just about the best guy in WWE right now in a lot of ways but I’m ready for his feud with Aries to be over. I trust them to have a good match and do something interesting, but I just can’t get invested in a feud where Aries is meant to be the guy I care about.

Interest Level: 6/10Prediction: Neville wins.

Orin:

Ehh. It’s a bummer to not be excited about a Neville match, but here we are. I don’t really care about this, although both him and AA are obviously more than capable of putting on a good one. Instead of this, they should just do a backstage segment with Neville tweeting out all caps insults about Aries’ plant-based diet book.

Still not the Mel Gibson movie.

Enzo Amore and Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson on the kickoff show

Joey:

Please have someone throw Enzo Amore off the stage already. PLEASE!

Interest Level: 3/10Prediction: Gallows and Anderson win.

Tim:

My interest in WWE is at the lowest point it’s been in years and Raw is the brand I am most disinterested in. I’m hoping things will straighten out on each brand after Payback but I have some worries. NXT has been surprisingly good the past three weeks. Oh, this match? I have nothing. No thanks.

Interest Level: 0/10Prediction: Enzo and Cass win.

Tom:

I can’t think of anything to say about this. Nothing at all.

Interest Level: 1/10Prediction: Okay.

Neville (c) vs. Austin Aries for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

Joey:

Neville and Austin Aries had a pretty good showcase in the windy WrestleMania pre-show match. I imagine this one will be better since the majority of fans will already be in their seats. Neville and Aries are really the only guys that have gotten over in the cruiserweight division. I’m expecting Aries to win here so they can continue the feud for another month.

Interest Level: 8/10Prediction: Austin Aries wins.

Tim:

I am looking forward to this. Aries and Neville are a great match-up and the two biggest parts of the Cruiserweight division right now. I think they can pull off something better than the fun bout they had at Wrestlemania. I do hope Aries slips on his banana at some point but I have a feeling it won’t happen this time as he is fixing to be the champion.

Interest Level: 5/10Prediction: Austin Aries wins.

Tom:

I disagree with Joey’s notion that Aries and Neville are the only two to have gotten over in the Cruiserweight Division; Neville has been amazing in his new role, but I feel like Aries is still kind of riding the hype over being a former indies star, as opposed to any of his WWE performances. Not that he’s been bad, I just don’t feel like interest levels or fan investment have increased for him. Also, I think Jack Gallagher has been a much bigger deal in terms of breaking out as someone people are interested in seeing (or at least him doing silly umbrella things), though he’s hamstrung by the division still feeling like a throwaway, time-filler thing.

Anyway, match should be good but they should have high-powered fans pointed at the ring to make Neville’s hair flow beautifully like it did at ‘Mania.

Red light. Green light.

Neville vs. Austin Aries for the Cruiserweight Championship

Joey:

This may be the first time a credible popular face is challenging a credible popular heel since the cruiserweight division became a part of the main roster. That is pretty cool. Neville and Austin Aries have been delivering some compelling segments in recent weeks. They’ve set the tone for an important kickoff match. I think they will have a great match to start the evening/late afternoon. Neville has to retain. That title has changed hands way too many times already and Neville is on fire as a heel right now.

Interest Level: 8/10Prediction: Neville wins.

Tim:

EDITOR’S NOTE: Tim is currently dealing with real bad weather in Arkansas, but he may get his predictions in later.

Interest Level: Pray for Tim/10Prediction: Please stay safe.

Tom:

ALRIGHT, HERE GOES. I can’t stand Aries as a personality in 2017, especially when he’s meant to be the face. I bloody love Neville though. I think the two will have an excellent match together in a half empty stadium, but the set looks beautiful so that’ll be fun for them.

Interest Level: 9/10Prediction: Neville wins.

2017 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Joey:

I always enjoy the battle royal on WrestleMania and think it’s a great idea. Everyone assumes Braun Strowman is getting the win here but I think it will be Big Show’s year again. Show got into such great shape for the huge Shaq match and is now relegated to a pre-show battle royal.

I think WWE rewards him with the win. I also believe they would have bumped something else to the pre-show if Braun was winning or any big surprises were planned. Big Show wins a battle royal with minimal surprises.

Interest Level: 6/10Prediction: Big Show wins.

Tim:

EDITOR’S NOTE: Tim is currently dealing with real bad weather in Arkansas, but he may get his predictions in later.

Interest Level: Pray for Tim/10Prediction: Please stay safe.

Tom:

The big question is “will Shaq be in the Battle Royal?” and here’s my answer: I think so, yes. I’ve got no idea what Braun is going to do so shut up about that, alright? Maybe Big Show and Shaq team up to eliminate him, I don’t know.

Anyway, I’m hoping the main story of this is old Sami Zayn and Samoa Joe continuing to rough each other up, with Sami finally getting the win before having a trophy smashed over his sweet head.

This match is likely going to be a mess but hopefully they can find a way to make it work. The ladies of Smackdown have been doing a great job since the brand split and definitely deserve to have this on the main show, assuming it is.

As much as I’d love for Naomi to get her moment back in her hometown, I believe Alexa Bliss retains and WWE continues to go with her as the champ for a while. Please keep Kelly Kelly away from the ring.

Interest Level: 7/10Prediction: Alexa Bliss wins.

Tim:

EDITOR’S NOTE: Tim is currently dealing with real bad weather in Arkansas, but he may get his predictions in later.

Interest Level: Pray for Tim/10Prediction: Please stay safe.

Tom:

It’s not on the preshow, thank God! I know the official reason is because we, the fans, demanded that it be on the main show but I think we all know it’s really because they can’t have Naomi’s entrance while it’s still light outside.

Anyway, is this the match where they have a bunch of old WWE divas show up to launch a feud between the new WWE female superstars to have a scrap over who is strongest/sexiest/most powerful? Hope not! Just let Naomi win, come on.

I’m a big fan of three of these guys but I’m not expecting much from it since it’s a pre-show match. Akira Tozawa and his charisma have been a gift to the cruiserweight division. His storyline with Kendrick is the best thing in the division outside of Neville’s heel reign. Noam Dar is such a bore. I can’t believe he gets as much air time as he does. Swann still hasn’t found his spot but I’m hoping that changes one day soon. Anyway, this’ll be a nice little pre-show match.

Interest Level: 4/10Prediction: Swann and Tozawa win.

Tom:

Tozawa has been so exciting in his limited time on WWE TV, to the point that I badly want him to shift out of the Cruiserweight division so he’s not just limited to wrestling the guys there. However, I can live with it for the time-being. I like all of the guys in this match to various degrees, so even though it’s a TV match, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Also, big laffs at TJP not even making kickoff shows now.

Interest Level: 6/10Prediction: Tozawa and Swann win.

Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

Joey:

No interest in this feud. I definitely think Nia Jax wins in dominant fashion to remain strong and set up Sasha Banks’ frustration and anger for something later in the show.

This is something I just haven’t been able to connect with. Nia Jax just isn’t that great in her role. Best case scenario for this match to be anything worth seeing is Jax dominating most of it and Banks selling over the top for her in crazy ways. I would think Jax gets the win here.

The road is blocked.

Big Cass vs. Rusev

Joey:

Everyone ragged on Big Cass for the pants comment on Raw last week, but I thought he looked great on his own. Enzo Amore has become my least favorite person on Raw. Cass on his own has me interested in him again. I’m looking forward to this match. My expectations are sadly Enzo returning to help Cass in between dancing like a scumbag. Hopefully Lana throws him off the stage.

Interest Level: 6/10Prediction: Cass wins.

Tim:

The build has been horrendous but maybe the match will make up for the weeks of making me want to change the channel. I like Big Cass a lot even though some of his promo work is cheesy. He’s a real asset to the roster. He stands out and is an entertaining tall guy in the ring. He and Rusev are both inconsistent but hopefully they have some chemistry. I’m pretty curious to see how they work together. I’d bet Big Cass gets the win here with help from his pal, horny Scrappy Doo. Just remember: Rusev is the good guy as usual.

Interest Level: 5/10Prediction: Big Cass wins.

Tom:

IT’S A ROADBLOCK, BABY, DRIVE ME CRAZY. I think this might be okay. The storyline’s been trash but Rusev is still fairly fun and I like seeing Big Cass be a tall man doing tall man things. Big boots and so on.

I enjoyed 205 Live a lot this week. The triple threat match is the most I’ve look forward to a cruiserweight match since the move to the main roster. Rich Swann is wonderful and definitely the right choice to be champion. Hopefully this is the final PPV title shot for Kendrick or Perkins for a while with someone new getting an opportunity. Unfortunately the depth is pretty weak. Maybe Tajiri returns to spit mist in TJP’s sexist eyes.

Interest Level: 8/10Prediction: Rich Swann wins.

Tim:

I still haven’t been grabbed by the Cruiserweights but this being a three way gives me hope for it to be more intriguing than past Cruiserweight matches. I think they did a little better with the build than they have for previous Cruiserweight title matches but they still have a long ways to go. Rich Swann is awesome. I’m glad he’s the champion and I think that will continue for awhile longer. Can I see Tozawa now?

Interest Level: 4/10Prediction: Rich Swann wins.

Tom:

I still like Kendrick a lot but TJP continues to do nothing for me and I’d rather Swann have someone fresh to scrap with. Is Gran Metallik not available? Are they saving him for something? What about Tozawa or Tajiri? I don’t know if rationing the fun guys out is their plan, but man, the division could really use some other guys being showcased.

We are doing something again! This time, flags are involved!

Rusev vs. Zack Ryder for the United States Championship

Joey:

Noted Donald Trump supporter Zack Ryder is trying to make wrestling great again by sending Bulgarian superstar Rusev behind a wall. Classic WWE storytelling. Hopefully Rusev beats Ryder so badly he has to team with a meathead that jumps up and down like a complete goof for the rest of his career.

Interest Level: 4/10Prediction: Rusev wins.

Tim:

The story has been boring and actually made Ryder look worse than he already did a few times. Rusev is great so hopefully after this they put him in a more interesting feud. Any bit of interest I have in this match stems from the hope that Rusev yells some funny things during it.

Interest Level: 1/10Prediction: Rusev wins.

Tom:

I feel like I’ve already seen everything I need to from these two. There’s something kind of sweet about Ryder getting another chance to succeed, but it’s a good five years too late and he just isn’t particularly interesting to watch. SOZ ZACK MATE, ALSO SOZ TO ZACK’S DAD, ALSO SOZ TO ALL THE FANTASTIC PEOPLE OF LONG ISLAND.

Interest Level: 3/10Prediction: Rusev wins.

The Miz vs. Darren Young for the Intercontinental Championship

Joey:

As great as Miz has been and as wonderful as Darren Young can be, I hope this turns into a verbal debate between Maryse and Bob Backlund. The Miz deserves a longer reign with the Intercontinental Championship. Let’s be honest – this Darren Young gimmick is ending in a month or two.

Interest Level: 4/10Prediction: The Miz wins.

Tim:

The Darren Young gimmick isn’t working for me and I don’t think it will work for many in the long-term. Backlund can be funny at times but that’s about as far as it goes for me. The Miz should be Intercontinental Champ for a good while. He’s perfect for where he is and they should really let it be for a while more. I’m not so interested in the actual match between these two. Actually, I’m not interested at all.

Interest Level: 0/10Prediction: The Miz wins.

Tom:

I’ve enjoyed the Darren Young / Bob Backlund partnership a lot more since Backlund has been allowed to be his spontaneous, weird self on TV – he’s really only enjoyable when he seems to be about three syllables away from saying something truly insane and awful, which I sincerely hope happens in this match! Young isn’t much as a wrestler, but I like his theme song a good bit so that’s something.

Miz and Maryse are both good stuff, but Miz is always better when he’s in the ring with someone markedly better than him – that sounds like I’m being unkind or just stating the obvious, but he’s always been better at raising his own game, rather than someone else’s. Anyway, another one I’m not particularly looking forward to, but I won’t be issuing any sorries this time.

Ladders and dream matches.

The Lucha Dragons vs. The Dudley Boyz on the kick off show

The Golden Truth vs. Breezedango on the kick off show

Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler

Joey:

These two have the most boring matches and it’s still going on for some reason. Dolph Ziggler is the most aggressively uninteresting personality in the business today. Baron Corbin is extremely lucky the brand split is coming or he would be in trouble. I’d love to not meet anyone out there in the world excited to watch this one.

Interest Level: 0/10Prediction: Ron Swanson’s favorite wrestler wins.

Tim:

Are we on the third month of this now? Is that it? It feels like it’s been going on for years. “The Big Breakfast” Baron Corbin had a promising main roster debut at Wrestlemania by winning the prestigious Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Okay, maybe that wasn’t a huge deal but it showed that maybe they wanted to get behind him immediately. Instead they throw him to the black hole of irrelevance known as Dolph Ziggler and decide to not let it ever end. Get this over with please!

FUCKING ZIGGLER MAN. Hopefully Breakfast kicks his ballbag literally off and yells “YOU GOT SWERVED… BITCH” so we can put this to rest while also kicking off a fantastic new season of the WWE Network’s hit hidden camera show.

Interest Level: 2/10Prediction: Corbs finally escapes the Ziggler black hole to do something interesting on the main roster.

Sheamus vs. Apollo Crews

Joey:

I am looking forward to this!!! God bless the good people that make Breaking Ground and the not so great people that make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. Apollo Crews may be my favorite person featured on Breaking Ground and I love watching him wrestle. Sheamus has a dull presence but he’s always pretty good in the ring. I think this is the best spot for him on the card but how about WWE keeping him off TV and making him work the dark match during the weekend of his #1 hit movie appearance?

The match WILL deliver. I will be pleasantly surprised if Apollo gets the win but I think Sheamus is the victor here.

Interest Level: 9/10Prediction: Sheamus wins.

Tim:

This match should be fine, I guess. It seems like Crews got thrown on to the main roster without much of a plan so this is way better than him fading to the background. He needs a good showing because that unfortunate Jericho match still comes to mind when I think of him post-NXT and I know he’s better than that. Sheamus is a good hand when it comes to ring work so this should do the trick. I figure Sheamus will win but hopefully they can get Crews a big win sometime soon.

Interest Level: 5/10Prediction: Sheamus wins.

Tom:

Weird. So weird. I feel very bad for old Crewsy, his main roster debut felt rushed and it hasn’t really done him any favours. That one match with Jericho was absolutely hideous and even though a feud with WWE’s newest crossover star Sheamus has some potential, it still feels like an uphill battle.

Speaking of Sheamus, he was fairly excellent in that new Turtles film, and by “excellent”, I don’t mean he was good at acting or anything like that but it was always fun and surreal to see him onscreen and sometimes that’s enough.

“Don’t compare Extreme Rules to ECW.” – Tazz (2016)

Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler in a No DQ Match on the kickoff show

Joey:

Poor Breakfast. There is basically no chemistry between these two and they have yet to have a noteworthy match. Hopefully the No DQ stipulation helps add to it and Corbin gets the final win in their series. I don’t have much hope for it being anything special and they will not be able to live up to last month’s legendary Ryback vs. Kalisto kickoff match.

Interest Level: 4/10Prediction: Baron Corbin wins.

Tim:

This feud has been really forgettable so Corbin has that going for him at least. In a couple of months no one will remember any of this. Corbin definitely needs the win. He needs to work with someone better than Ziggler to get going. He can look good in the right scenarios. Lets just get it over with. I think I just decided to fix me an adult beverage for this show.

Interest Level: 0/10Prediction: “Big Breakfast” Baron Corbin wins.

Tom:

Fucking Ziggler, the debut killer. Just let him get squashed by Breakfast so we can move on with our lives!

Interest Level: 2/10Prediction: “The Big Breakfast” gets the big win.

The Usos vs. Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows in a Tornado Tag Match

Joey:

The hatred towards Roman Reigns has carried over to the Usos and it’s wonderful. This ensures fans will actually care about their tag matches now and I think this could be a sleeper good match. It will likely open the show to set the tone for the main event. I haven’t enjoyed their tag matches on television much but it was always meant to culminate in a big AJ Styles/Reigns brawl. This time should see a real winner and a legitimate match.

Interest Level: 7/10Prediction: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows win.

Tim:

When I was little I used to want every tag match to be a tornado tag. I’m pretty excited to see one here. This is a tag match with an actual story and two teams that can be entertaining. The Clubb (I think it needs two b’s so I will spell it with two b’s) should get the win here. This has everything it needs to be a match of the night contender but I have a feeling things might fall apart. Hopefully I’m wrong! Either way I am very interested in this match.

Man, I’m pretty into tornado tags (or at least I was in WWF No Mercy for the N64), so this is something I can get behind. Gallows and Anderson have had a bit of a strange debut so far, right? They’ve added an interesting edge to the AJ and Roman feud but it’s hard to consider them as a separate entity that has matches which don’t involve AJ. Anyway, I think this could be a pretty decent time.

Not the Mel Gibson movie.

Kalisto vs. Ryback for the United States Championship on the kickoff show

Joey:

The WrestleMania pre-show match between these two was good but the lack of a crowd hurt it. I think WWE is intentionally putting Ryback on every pre-show for the rest of the year after he made public comments threatening retirement if it doesn’t change. The match should be good but it’s not anything worth going out of your way to get the show on early.

Interest Level: 6/10Prediction: Kalisto wins.

Tim:

Oh! Sorry, I was reminiscing about that time John Cena made the United States Championship feel important. I’m not the biggest Ryback fan but I do think he has potential to be an entertaining character. Kalisto can be hit or miss but he’s mostly fun to watch. They’re just not being booked to be cared for. Ryback is already hard to care for as it is so them relegating these two to this feud that barely exists sucks. It sucks that WWE creative sucks but what can we do?

Interest Level: 4/10Prediction: Kalisto wins

Tom:

Last month, I was onboard with Joey as far as giving this a chance. Now though? Naw. Naw son. I don’t dislike either guy but I have zero interest in seeing them wrestle again, unless it’s in some kind of match with all sorts of mad stipulations.

Interest Level: 2/10Prediction: Kalisto wins.

Dolph Ziggler vs. “The Big Breakfast” Baron Corbin

Joey:

WWE has a tendency to go with “Even Stevens bullshit booking” in the words of Brad Ward so I am terrified of Dolph Ziggler winning here to ruin Baron Corbin’s momentum. Ziggler doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things so they can’t possibly screw over Corbin. The chemistry between these two doesn’t appear to exist and I’m not excited at all for the actual match unless Big Banter lives up to his name.

Interest Level: 4/10Prediction: Baron Corbin wins.

Tim:

Ziggler’s ridiculous selling will make Baron Corbin look good but I see Ziggler coming out on the winning end this time and then a rematch happening next month where Corbin gets the win. I can’t say I am excited about any of this. There’s stuff I like about “The Big Breakfast” Baron Corbin but his wrestling isn’t really apart of that. His finisher is good! Ziggler could retire to The Comedy Toilet tomorrow and I wouldn’t mind.

Interest Level: 2/10Prediction: Dolph Ziggler wins

Tom:

Ziggler has seemed to be the go-to guy as far as making an NXT guy’s debut as underwhelming as possible (big shout out to my main man Tyler Breeze), so hopefully this is the first and last PPV match between these two. I really hope this isn’t much more than a squash, I don’t enjoy most longer Ziggler matches and I want to see Breakfast become more established on the main roster.

It’s here.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Joey:

This is always enjoyable and feels like the perfect pre-show match. I can’t see any of The Wyatt Family members winning and Big Show won’t win again. The idea of a surprise person winning here seems possible but I’m going to ride with the feel good story of Mark Henry getting the trophy win in his final big WWE moment before retiring the next night.

Interest Level: 7/10Prediction: Mark Henry wins.

Tim:

I am in Dallas and I am doing this while partying and living the dream. BRIE MOOOODE! Haha. Good stuff there. I can see the black sheep of The Wyatt Family, Brak Brunan, winning this one. I can also see Bray Wyatt winning. I can also see a returning Cena winning it. Okay, that’s it. I probably won’t care for this unless a certain guy named Cesaro get cleared and becomes a two-time winner.

Recently, Joey and I had a conversation about whether or not we felt sorry for Bray Wyatt. We came to the conclusion that, even in spite of the fact that he’s never really delivered on any of the many chances he’s been given, we DO feel sorry for him if the only thing he ends up doing at Wrestlemania is the Battle Royal.

That’s about all I have to say about this. Hopefully Fandango gets a good showing.

Interest Level: 4/10Prediction: Mark Henry and Big Show in a stalemate.